Chapter 106: Worker Status

At 9:30, the family of three was dressed in new clothes; the women in the courtyard knew exactly what was going on at a glance.

"Congratulations, Uncle Zhang, Auntie Zhang."

Zhang Laohan responded with a smile, and only after the family of three left the Siheyuan did the crowd begin to chatter and gossip.

"Tell me, which family's girl did Ping'an set his sights on?"

"Don't know."

"It shouldn't be far; the three of them didn't ride their bikes."

"Right, right, right, you're observant."

"Yeah, I didn't even notice until you mentioned it."

Meanwhile, Zhang Ping'an's family of three had already arrived at the Eighty-fifth Courtyard, where Wang Xiaoling's parents were waiting at the door. It was Zhang Ping'an's first time meeting his mother-in-law, who looked like she had been cut from the same mold as Wang Xiaoling, just older.

The others in the Eighty-fifth Courtyard were also gathered around to watch the excitement; many young men felt dejected upon learning that the Wang family's daughter was getting engaged.

Thinking about how there were only two households in the front courtyard—the Wang brothers—with people living in the east and west wing rooms and the Daozuofang serving as their medicinal herb warehouse, while they themselves were squeezed two or three to a room, the young men realized they weren't a match in status and felt better about it.

"Uncle, Auntie, these are my parents."

"Oh! Brother, Sister-in-law, please come inside quickly."

"Good, good, good."

The atmosphere was very harmonious. Wang Xiaoling finally came out shyly, and both families were very pleased, quickly setting the date for May 2nd of next year, which was also Wang Xiaoling's birthday.

At noon, at the invitation of his future father-in-law, they had a sumptuous lunch. Zhang Ping'an found it strange; as someone who had lived two lives, this was his first time meeting his in-laws, yet he felt no nervousness at all, perhaps because they were too familiar.

In the afternoon, Zhang Ping'an dropped Wang Xiaoling off at work and went to the fabric store himself.

"Brother Zhang, are you looking for me?"

"That's right, Ping'an. I heard your Clothing Shop has entered a Public-Private Partnership. You just agreed to it so easily?"

"Ahem, I'm like a brick; I'll go wherever I'm needed."

"Slippery."

"Ping'an, I'm not opening the shop anymore. I plan to go back to my hometown to farm. Can you take these fabrics? I'll give you a discount."

Zhang Ping'an was startled; he hadn't expected this guy to be so decisive, giving up his own shop just like that. Zhang Ping'an hesitated, not because he couldn't take them, but for fear of trouble later.

"Don't worry, Ping'an. The Street Office hasn't found me yet, and at my age, it's normal to go back to my hometown to take care of my elders, right?"

"Alright then, go ahead and calculate it."

Zhang Weiping fiddled with his abacus for a while and finally reached a conclusion.

"Ping'an, I have a total of 135 bolts of cloth left, 200,000 per bolt. How many can you take?" Zhang Weiping was also afraid that delays would lead to changes, so he was clearing out his stock.

"Alright, I'll take them all. I'll go back and scrape together the money."

"Straightforward. The keys are yours. I'll pack up and head back to my hometown in a bit." Zhang Weiping let out a long sigh of relief; he had to sell off as quickly as possible before they came for him to partner up.

"..." Good heavens, that was fast.

Half an hour later, Zhang Ping'an arrived with five and a half stacks of bills. Zhang Weiping took them, counted them, and handed Zhang Ping'an a land deed.

"Ping'an, you've done me a huge favor. This storefront is yours."

"That doesn't seem right."

"Take it, Ping'an, don't refuse. If you're ever in Zhang Weizi, Lu Province, come find me." After saying this, the family of seven left gracefully, leaving Zhang Ping'an standing in the wind, bewildered.

This storefront was also converted from a row of Daozuofang, a bit smaller than the Daozuofang in Zhang Ping'an's Shichahai Courtyard. Looking at the land deed in his hand, it had only been updated a few years ago; he wondered if Zhang Weiping would regret it later.

Never mind, if he passes through Lu Province while on procurement duty in the future, he'll go visit and help out if he can.

Zhang Ping'an put all the fabric from the shop into his space, which would make it convenient for him to barter in the future or use it himself. He didn't plan to deal with the building for now; he would renovate it when he had time later and then rent it out.

The Clothing Shop finished reconciling all financial data by mid-December. The Public-Private Partnership went smoothly. The public representative was a 39-year-old uncle named Zhao Fangyuan, who had a slight limp and was very easy to talk to.

Zhang Ping'an had met him; he basically didn't interfere with the shop's operations, spending his days drinking tea and reading newspapers in the office, quite at ease.

The office was converted from the former changing room. In this era, few people felt comfortable trying on clothes anywhere other than home, so the changing room was rarely used and was eventually just turned into an office.

In mid-January 1954, the Rolling Mill also completed its Public-Private Partnership, and the workers at the Rolling Mill completely secured their Iron Rice Bowl.

Lou Bancheng stepped down as Factory Director and became a Board Director of the Rolling Mill, not participating in specific management. Comrade Nie Haiquan was appointed Factory Director, in charge of Party affairs and personnel; Comrade Yang Zhiguo was appointed Deputy Factory Director, in charge of production.

Comrade Li Huaide was appointed Logistics Director, overseeing all logistics affairs; Comrade Zheng Mei was appointed Factory Office Director; Li Ke was appointed Personnel Section Chief; Zhou Jianshe was appointed Security Section Chief; Cao Guodong was appointed Cafeteria Director; Zhu Weiguo was appointed Purchasing Section Chief; at the same time, they would vigorously expand recruitment after the New Year.

The original main leaders of the Rolling Mill were almost all deputy positions. He Daqing was now the Deputy Cafeteria Director, and Wu Qiang had actually become the Deputy Section Chief of the Purchasing Section. Lou Zhenyu seemed to have disappeared, along with his son. Zhang Ping'an guessed they had probably gone to Xiangjiang.

On the way home from work, Zhang Ping'an ran into Wu Qiang.

"Congratulations, Qiang Ge. I'll be working under you from now on, so please take care of us."

"Ahem, use titles during work hours."

"Understood, Section Chief Wu." Zhang Ping'an playfully gave him a salute.

"You rascal, Ping'an, daring to tease your brother. I've noted that; watch out for me giving you a hard time later."

"Qiang Ge, my mistake. This is a Hami melon, a specialty from Beijiang. Take it home for the kids to enjoy."

"You..." Wu Qiang didn't refuse. He and Lao Jia were old friends, and he had been getting along well with Zhang Ping'an over the past few years.

"Ping'an, let me tell you a few words from the heart."

"Alright, go ahead." Zhang Ping'an stopped being cheeky.

"I was able to become a Deputy Section Chief this time because I was the best of the bunch. You and Dongxu are people I know well; you must support your brother's work in the Purchasing Section in the future."

"That goes without saying."

"And you can't be as casual as before, especially disappearing for two months at a time."

"Hehe, that won't happen."

"Whatever we say in private is fine, but during work..." Wu Qiang paused, as if deliberating how to phrase it.

"I know, use titles."

"Ping'an, your brother doesn't mean anything else. Before, when we were..." Wu Qiang was afraid Zhang Ping'an would misunderstand that he was looking down on people now that he had been promoted.

"Qiang Ge, I understand. Work is work, and personal friendship is personal friendship; that way, everyone is comfortable getting along."

"Mm." Wu Qiang nodded with satisfaction; it wasn't that he had changed, but that the organizational structure had changed.

Returning home, Zhang Ping'an discovered that his father and mother had already started packing their clothes, preparing to return home for the New Year; after all, there was less than half a month left until the New Year, though this year Zhang Ping'an would have to rush home on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.

"Ping'an, tomorrow your mother and I have to head home first to tidy up; why don't you keep this tricycle here?" Zhang Laohan also knew that the Rolling Mill's tricycle couldn't just be ridden home whenever one pleased.

"No need, Dad. Don't I still have one, and with the Bicycle, that's enough."

"That works."

A little past seven in the morning, Zhang Ping'an and Jia Dongxu were now honestly following the main group from the Siheyuan to work; it was freezing cold, so he didn't ride his Bicycle either.